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Were you an Elite Instructor in 2014? If so, hope you are ready for a little friendly competition!

Take the Elite Instructor my PADI® Challenge from 1 July through 30 September and you can win a 2016 PADI Membership Renewal, personalized PADI Gear and recognition at DEMA Show 2015. You’ll also be featured in the my PADI marketing campaign!

You’ll compete against others in your same 2014 Elite Instructor category and there’s no need to enter or apply because your PADI Regional Headquarters will track your growth for you. Those showing the most percentage growth in certifications (as compared to the same time frame last year) will win. Simple as that!

If your social media activities are limited to Facebook, consider adding an Instagram account. The popular photo sharing app is easy to use and can help expose your business to a new demographic. Use Instagram to upload recent class photos, your favorite underwater pics, etc. and save time by automatically publishing your Instagram posts to your Facebook page.

Here are a few more good reasons to try Instagram:
Instagram users tend to be younger than the average Facebook user, they are also 25% more likely to earn a high income. The best part? Instagram will actually show your posts to all your followers (unlike Facebook).

Each time you upload a photo, you’ll have the option to share to Facebook or whatever other social networks you’ve linked. You can also choose not to share on social and the photo will post only to Instagram.

Posting to Instagram
You can take a photo using your device’s camera, or use a picture already saved to your phone. If using a photo from your gallery, remember that Instagram sizes photos to perfect squares. Horizontal (landscape) photos be cropped.

Instagram best practices

Interact! Just like Facebook, you can receive notifications when customers interact with your account. For example, you can receive an alert when:

A user likes or comments on one of your photos.

A user @mentions you in a comment.

When your photo is posted to the Popular page.

When your account is tagged in another user’s photo

To receive notifications: click on the Settings wheel while viewing your profile. Scroll down and select Push Notification Settings. You can also edit your Share Settings from the options panel. To change the way you receive notifications from Instagram, exit the app and access the Settings location. From there, find Instagram in the Notification Center and configure your app preferences.

Use tags such as #photooftheday #tbt #scuba #scubadiving. There’s no need to overboard with hastags, two or three are ideal. Tag your best scuba diving images #PADI and you could be our featured photo of the day. See recent favorites at: paditv on Instagram.

Include a location in your post, it can increase engagement by 79%.

Grow your followersSearch hashtags, location and Photos of You to find others’ posts about your business. Attract new followers by liking and commenting on their images.

Looking for Instagram Inspiration?

If you’ve created your Instagram account but aren’t sure what to post, start following some of these dive shop and dive industry accounts to get ideas.

Video!You can record and post video clips from the Instagram app. To record video, press the camera button and and choose the video recorder option on the right. You can film one long video (or splice several short clips together). To create multiple clips, lift your finger off the record button. If you aren’t happy with a previous clip, delete it by pressing the delete arrow.

Shark Week starts Sunday 5 July on the Discovery Channel. For the 28th year in a row, millions of viewers will tune in to see surfer survival stories and slo-mo great whites.

Shark Week is so popular, it’s been called The Super Bowl of summer TV programming. With that in mind, here are some ideas on how you can help spread the (good) word about sharks and maybe sell a few classes.

Post a Shark Fact of the Day / or Guess-This-Shark image to your social media pages and eNewsletter. Offer a prize to the first person to guess the right answer (PADI shark keychain, perhaps?), or invite people to guess the answer just for bragging rights.

Product no. 82619 – $3.00

By encouraging users to comment, you’ll increase engagement on your page. Here are some resources for your social media posts or enewsletter.

Schedule your next dive club meeting to coincide with Shark Week. During commercial breaks, read off Shark Facts and Myths and invite attendees to guess which is real and which isn’t. For example: 90% of shark attack victims are male.Truth or Myth?

Where are you diving on 18 July 2015? You can show your support of the female dive market by organizing a local dive or event for PADI Women’s Dive Day. It’s a genuine way to get more women together, in the water and involved in diving. PADI Members from around the world are hosting events to celebrate women’s contributions to recreational diving and to attract the next generation of female divers, explorers, and underwater photographers.

Why should you get involved in this initiative?
The PADI organization has witnessed a gradual increase in the proportion of female divers in recent years:

Also, many brands have been shifting focus to female consumers over the last decade, adjusting product offerings, marketing messages and business models accordingly. Even historically male-focused industries have realized the business potential females wield as the primary decision makers in many households.
Are your marketing efforts targeting women specifically? If not, now’s the time to start.

How does our trash make its way from land to sea?Project AWARE’s new animated infographic explains the ugly journey, and shines light on the dangers our litter poses to marine ecosystems and wildlife along the way. While the marine debris issue may at first appear daunting, there is hope! With our underwater skill set, the dive community is uniquely positioned to contribute to global solutions by participating in Dive Against Debris, Project AWARE’s year-round underwater debris removal and reporting program.

We all want a healthy ocean and healthy planet – join Project AWARE in the fight against marine debris – become a Debris Activist this World Oceans Day and all year long!

Our ocean is under siege. From everyday trash like plastic bags, food wrappers and drink bottles, to larger items like car batteries, kitchen appliances and fishing nets, our debris is entering the sea at an alarming rate. Our ocean has become a dumping ground.

Marine debris is not only unsightly, it’s dangerous to sea life, hazardous to human health, and costly to our economies. Marine animals can become entangled in debris or mistake small particles of trash for food – often with fatal results. Divers, swimmers and beachgoers can be directly harmed by encounters with debris or its toxins. And, the costs of plastic debris to marine ecosystems are estimated at 13 billion dollars a year. Better information about sources and impacts is extremely important to drive changes in infrastructure and waste management policies at all levels.

Who is responsible? All of us. Together we can help prevent and clear up this mess for a clean, healthy ocean planet.

Are you a PADI Dive Shop or Instructor that takes ocean protection to heart? We all want to keep our undersea world clean and healthy – not just for ourselves, but for the dive community, now and for future generations to come. If conservation is important to you and your business, consider becoming 100% AWARE.

Across the globe, PADI Instructors and Dive Shops are committing to ocean protection through 100% AWARE partnerships. 100% AWARE partners support a healthy and abundant ocean by making a donation to Project AWARE on behalf of each student that they certify through PADI Online PIC Processing.* 100% AWARE partners’ ongoing contributions make a difference by providing vital funds to support Project AWARE’s two core areas of focus: marine debris prevention and shark and ray protection.

Best of all students certified through a 100% AWARE partner will receive the Project AWARE version of their PADI certification card, so that they can proudly display their support and remember their positive experience with you! Divers value practices that protect the ocean and want to dive with instructors and dive shops that share their values – show them that you care!

Ready to get started? Follow these easy steps to become a 100% AWARE Partner:

Get started by submitting your 100% AWARE partner agreement. PADI Dive Centers and Resorts and Instructors may apply. You have the option to donate $10 per certification card, or a flat donation of $250 per month.

Log into the Online Processing Center using the PADI member number on your 100% AWARE agreement and select your choice of preferred certification card.

That’s it! All your certifications will be automatically issued as AWARE cards without making a donation to process.

It’s easy to get started! Effortlessly support ocean protection with every certification – the benefits are endless! If you need any help along the way, Project AWARE is here to help. Simply contact Project AWARE’s Fundraising Specialist, Lauren Wiskerson at lauren.wiskerson@projectaware.org or click here to learn more.

*With the exception of Emergency First Response, Seal Team and Tec Rec.

Based on PADI Member feedback, the Online Processing Center is currently being enhanced to improve usability and digital product management. The improvements affect both design and organization of the site, making standard PIC processing and processing student divers with digital codes easier and more intuitive. Once the new Online Processing Center goes live in August, the old PIC Online application will be retired, and all online certifications will need to be processed via the revamped Online Processing Center.

You will want to start using the current Online Processing Center since the old PIC Online application will be deleted soon, which will be a much easier transition for you once the revised version launches.

The enhancements provide a better user experience with a more structured platform and simplified navigation. The platform is also mobile optimized, which means you can process certifications using your mobile device from anywhere you have an internet connection.

Some of the exciting enhancements to the Online Processing Center are:

Reorganization and simplified navigation (all digital codes are managed under one section).

Mobile optimization of all screens.

Simplified language and wording throughout the portal.

Digital codes scoreboard for a quick reference of your available codes.

Integrated tooltips to provide descriptions of each section or application.

Improved filtering and sorting options of digital code data.

Drop-down menu of languages.

If you haven’t already, start using the current Online Processing Center and becoming familiar with processing both your standard PICs and students with digital codes through this portal, so you will be ready for the launch of the revised site. If you have any additional questions, please contact your PADI Regional Headquarters Training and Customer Service team.